To have been eligible for fees support through the TTAF, a New Zealand Apprenticeship had to be:

• a sub-degree programme
• approved by the NZQA
• approved by the TEC and funded through the Industry Training Fund (ITF), and
• a registered apprenticeship programme at 1 June 2020, or have otherwise been determined by the TEC to be an eligible programme.

For new apprenticeship qualifications (not previously reported to the TEC), the TEC approved TTAF funding at the same time as running the approval process for New Zealand Apprenticeships and Managed Apprenticeships. Tertiary Education Organisations (TEOs) did not need to submit a separate application for TTAF funding.

You can find out how to get approval from TEC for funding a new New Zealand Apprenticeship at New Zealand Apprenticeships.

To have been eligible for fees support through the TTAF, industry training programmes (excluding apprenticeships) had to be:

• training that fell within one area on the Targeted Areas List
• sub-degree training
• approved by the TEC and funded through the Industry Training Fund, and
• not otherwise excluded from eligibility where the TEC has discretion.

To have been eligible for fees support through the TTAF, MAs had to:

• meet the MAs definition in the Single Data Return (SDR) Manual
• be a sub-degree programme
• be approved and funded through the SAC3+ Fund by the TEC, and
• have been delivered and reported as MAs delivery in the SDR before 1 June 2020, or have been determined by the TEC to be an eligible programme.

New MA qualifications had to be approved for TTAF funding by the TEC.

To have been eligible for fees support through the TTAF, SAC3+ qualifications or programmes (that were not MAs) had to be:

• study that fell within one area on the Targeted Areas List
• a sub-degree qualification or programme
• at Level 3–7 on the NZQF
• approved and funded through the SAC3+ Fund by the TEC, and
• not otherwise excluded from eligibility where the TEC has discretion.

If a qualification or programme delivered by a tertiary education organisation (TEO) was already included in the TTAF list of qualifications and programmes on the website, but the TEO had not yet been approved by TEC to deliver the qualification under the TTAF, the TEO had to complete and return the Template for TEO TTAF Requests (XLS, 19 Kb).

If TEOs believed further programmes should have been considered for the TTAF that were not on the list, they had to complete and return the Template for TEO TTAF Requests (XLS, 19 Kb).

If you have not received approval for a qualification or programme that you believe should have been covered by the TTAF, please return the appropriate Request spreadsheet to customerservice@tec.govt.nz or your Relationship Manager as soon as possible.

When returning the spreadsheet, save the file with the naming convention: [EDUMIS] – [TEO Name] TTAF Eligibility Review – YYYY-MM-DD.

Please note:

• For TTAF applications, please ensure total fee information is included in Column K of the spreadsheet.
• For SCP, LCP, Micro-credential and Training Scheme applications, please ensure the unit standards included in these programmes are entered in Column L of the spreadsheet.

Micro-credentials in the targeted areas (at sub-degree Levels 3–7) that met the programme eligibility criteria were eligible for the TTAF.

The TEC had discretion to include short programmes (ie, training schemes, limited credit programmes, supplementary credit programmes and training arrangements) where they were in the targeted areas (at sub-degree Levels 3–7 or as part of industry training) under the TTAF.

Under the TTAF, the TEC had discretion to include industry training at Level 2 that met the programme eligibility criteria.

Graduate Certificates and Diplomas (including those in targeted areas at Level 7) were not covered by the TTAF, as they were not considered to be sub-degree study.

Graduate Certificates and Diplomas are intended for graduates to undertake study at an advanced under-graduate level.

For provider-based study, all domestic students eligible for government tuition subsidies were eligible to access the TTAF. This included all New Zealand citizens or residence visa holders studying in New Zealand.   

For industry training at a workplace, anyone legally entitled to reside and work in New Zealand could access the TTAF.

This meant that people of all ages, regardless of their prior study, could access study or training opportunities through the TTAF without having to pay fees.   

To be eligible for provider-based study, learners had to meet the SAC Level 3 and above student eligibility criteria. For Industry training, learners had to meet the Industry Training Fund student eligibility criteria.

Fees related to RPL were not covered under the TTAF.

This included recognition of current competency assessments, recognised prior learning, and assessment of prior learning. As the TTAF’s focus was on funding the formal teaching and learning activities that led to qualifications, the TTAF only covered fees for training and assessment funded through the Industry Training Fund.

This means learners might have been charged fees for having prior learning assessed by an industry training organisation or a registered assessor.